Multistate Conservation Grant (MSCG) Program | F22AS00011

Opportunity Information: Apply for F22AS00011

The Multistate Conservation Grant (MSCG) Program is a competitive grant opportunity run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the Service) in close partnership with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA). It is designed to fund projects that tackle conservation and participation challenges that are regional or national in scope, meaning they go beyond what a single state fish and wildlife agency could reasonably address on its own. The program is structured around two closely related tracks that operate in much the same way: the Traditional Multistate Conservation Grant Program (T-MSCGP) and the Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation Multistate Conservation Grant Program (R3-MSCGP). In both cases, AFWA helps coordinate priorities and review by providing the Service with a ranked list of high-priority projects, while the Service administers the grants and manages the awards. Projects that are selected and funded are published each year in the Federal Register, and past award lists are also available through AFWA and the Service.

A key feature of MSCG is that proposals have to align with AFWA Strategic Priorities that are selected annually. These priorities function as the program’s roadmap: they reflect what state fish and wildlife agencies (including commonwealths and territories) consider to be the most pressing multistate conservation needs under the Traditional program, or the most important national participation needs under the R3 program. Applications are shared with the AFWA National Grants Committee (NGC), which reviews and ranks eligible proposals to inform the final selection process. In practice, this means an applicant cannot just propose a worthwhile conservation project in the abstract; the project must clearly fit within one or more of the currently selected priority areas and show multistate relevance.

The two funding tracks differ mainly in what the money can be used for. Under the Traditional MSCG program (T-MSCGP), grant funds can support a broad range of sport fish and wildlife management purposes consistent with the enabling legislation. Examples called out include research, boating access development, hunter safety and education, aquatic education, fish and wildlife habitat improvements, and similar efforts tied to fisheries and wildlife conservation and management. By contrast, the R3 MSCG program (R3-MSCGP) is much narrower: funds may only be used to design or implement hunter recruitment and recreational shooter recruitment initiatives that advance a national hunting and shooting sports recruitment program, including communication and outreach that directly supports those recruitment goals. The R3 category was developed in response to the Pittman-Robertson Modernization Act and is described as including up to an additional $5 million for R3 projects focused specifically on hunting and shooting sports; the announcement also notes that some R3-style projects aimed at fishing participation may be considered under the broader Traditional program using Sport Fish Restoration funding, depending on availability.

For FY 2022, AFWA’s Strategic Priorities for MSCG funding were organized into several major buckets. The Conservation and Science category includes large landscape systems and species work, climate-related efforts, wildlife disease (including “One Health” connections to human health), data initiatives, human dimensions and social science, and invasive species. Relevancy, Inclusion, and Participation priorities emphasize broader public engagement in conservation, communications that advance regional or national conservation efforts, and implementing or expanding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts both internally and externally. Another set of priorities targets coordination and capacity building for fish and wildlife agencies, including leadership development, conservation education, coordination of international/national/regional conservation policies and efforts, and integration of law enforcement. Trust Fund Stewardship priorities include research that supports conservation efforts, education and promotion of the North American Model of Conservation (referred to as “legal strategy” in the text), and conservation law education. There are also AFWA-specific priorities tied to AFWA funding principles, such as management assistance teams, management of the MSCG program itself, CITES and international conservation programs affecting state agencies, and national-scale coordination.

Within the R3-focused Strategic Priority category, the announcement highlights several common project types. Monitoring and evaluation projects (noted as Wildlife Restoration only) focus on tools, trainings, technologies, and measurement systems that help practitioners document outcomes, such as whether R3 efforts actually lead to initiation or increased avidity in hunting or target shooting, and that enable regional or national comparison using standardized indicators and dashboards. Marketing projects center on strategic marketing tools and campaigns with clear, measurable R3 outcomes, including market research, marketing toolkits, regional or national campaigns, and tactics that build social support and connect potential participants to opportunities. Mentoring projects focus on understanding what makes mentoring programs successful, what motivates mentors and mentees, and how to scale and coordinate mentoring and instructional efforts, including systems to better match mentors/instructors with prospective participants. Engaging new audiences projects seek to better define and reach new or underserved audiences and build targeted pathways and tools, with explicit encouragement for proposals focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Finally, R3 capacity and infrastructure projects aim to strengthen the overall R3 community by improving coordination, communication, planning, and partner collaboration across agencies, NGOs, industry, and regional associations, with an emphasis on measurable outcomes.

Eligibility and benefit requirements are an important part of this opportunity. Eligible applicants are tied closely to fish and wildlife governance and public-serving institutions: state governments (specifically the agencies with lead responsibility for fish and wildlife resources across the 50 states, the District of Columbia for Sport Fish Restoration only, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and U.S. territories including American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands), groups of such states/agencies, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for certain purposes such as carrying out the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation. The funding listing also includes public and state-controlled institutions of higher education and nonprofit organizations (including both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3) nonprofits) as eligible applicant types, reflecting that multistate work often depends on universities and partner organizations. However, projects must meet a strong multistate benefit threshold: they must benefit at least 26 states, or a majority of states within a Service region, or a regional association of state fish and wildlife departments. In addition, any nongovernmental organization applying must provide a certification that grant funds will not be used, in whole or in part, for activities that promote or encourage opposition to regulated hunting or trapping, recreational shooting activities, or the regulated taking of fish.

Administratively, this opportunity is listed as a discretionary grant under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with CFDA number 15.628. The posted award ceiling is $1,000,000. The specific announcement referenced is Funding Opportunity Number F22AS00011, created March 19, 2021, with an original closing date of July 24, 2021. The overall takeaway is that MSCG is meant to fund high-impact, multistate projects that fit AFWA’s annually selected priorities, with the Traditional track supporting broad conservation and management work and the R3 track tightly focused on scaling and improving national hunting and target shooting recruitment efforts through evidence-based tools, outreach, mentoring, inclusion strategies, and shared capacity.

• The Fish and Wildlife Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Multistate Conservation Grant (MSCG) Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.628.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-03-19.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-07-24. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for F22AS00011

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: